And while all the noise coming from "hawks" and "doves" could give you a case of Fed fatigue, there's one point both sides are hammering home: Forget the central bank's forecast for raising interest rates in 2014. At this point, anything could happen.
In its last policy statement, the Fed said it expected to keep interest rates at record lows "at least through late 2014." But not everyone on the voting committee agreed with that statement.
This week, several "hawks" -- members concerned about higher inflation -- have been speaking out again.
Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Minneapolis Fed, gave two speeches this week, arguing for the Fed to pull back sooner rather than later.
He predicts the unemployment rate will continue to fall and inflation will start trending higher, making it the wrong time for the Fed to be pumping more money into the system.
Instead, he said, his colleagues may have to raise rates as early as this year.
“I see no need for additional accommodation at this time, and I believe that conditions will warrant raising rates well before the end of 2014," he said in remarks in White Bear Lake, Minn. on Thursday afternoon.
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